Monday, April 29, 2019

On April 15th Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris caught on fire and parts of it burnt down. While the cathedral was on fire people were lining up in the streets singing hymns.

“The flames may have started at the bottom of the cathedral's giant spire and may have been caused by an electrical problem in an elevator near repairs,” according to CBS News.

The day the church burnt, millions of dollars were donated to the church for repairs of the 850-year-old worship house. All of the donations to the date of April 24 have reached all the way up to 1 billion dollars. There have been a lot of people that have donated money to the Notre Dame including famous people and locals from the area.It is good to think about the church and the history behind it and how people want to recover it, but there are a lot more bigger problems in the world that the money could have helped out.

For example, world hunger. People are out they're starving and they rarely ever get money donated to them. Half of the money that was donated to the church could have been donated to help people eat.“Last year’s report identified 108 million people in Crisis food security or worse across 48 countries,” according to The World Free Programme. The money that was donated to the cathedral really could help these people out that are starving and don't have anyway to get food. This year only 900 millions dollars has been raised to try and help the 821 million people that are starving according to The Hunger Project, an international organization devoted to education and empowering people to grow sustainable foods.

What would you do if you were being haunted by a
spine-chilling ghost? “The Curse of La Llorona” is a film based on a ghost (La
Llorona) in the 1970s that haunts a social worker and her kids. Their only hope
is the help of a disillusioned priest that keeps the evil away. The release
date of this movie that is made by the same directors of the “Conjuring”, was
April 19.

“The Curse of La Llorona” is a horror/thriller film. This
movie would be intriguing to scary movie fanatics. It is a great film to watch
if you are wanting some good jump scares and adrenaline rushing scenes. There
is some special effects makeup involved but they are mostly only used on La
Llorona to make her look more frightening, gruesome, and slightly immortal. The
makeup looks very good and realistic. Marisol Ramirez, who plays La Llorona,
has been in another thriller film called “Right at Your Door” which was
released in 2006. The amazing actress who plays Anna Garcia, Linda Cardellini,
has been in many well-known films of all genres such as “Avengers: Age of
Ultron” which came out in 2015 and “Daddy’s Home” which also came out in 2015. She
has also starred in a few TV shows like “Gravity Falls”, “New Girl”, “Dead to
Me”, “Regular Show”, and “Robot Chicken”.

This horror film has a few jump scares and you should expect
similar scenes and references from the Conjuring Universe. There are seven films in this family. “The
Curse of La Llorona” is the second film in the Conjuring Universe to not
reference or feature Ed and Lorraine Warren. It is also the first from their
franchise to feature an antagonist who didn’t appear in the main film series. “The
Curse of La Llorona” makes several references to the “Conjuring” movies. The
“Annabelle” films are also referenced in “The Curse of La Llorona”. Sam, Anna’s
daughter, carries a doll throughout the film which looks very similar to a
Raggedy Ann doll. The original doll that “Annabelle” was based off of was the
iconic Raggedy Ann toy.

“The Curse of La Llorona” is the first of two movies from
the Conjuring Universe to come out in 2019 so far. There are many references to
the other “Conjuring” films. There is a scene where Carlos and Tomas
(brothers), are haunted by La Llorona and one of the brothers looks to the
corner of the room near the doorway. That is a very similar scene to one in the
“Conjuring” when Christine first sees Bathsheba in her bedroom. Bathsheba had
the almost same effect on the “Conjuring” children as La Llorona has on the
brother in the film. Another fun fact is about a Scooby Doo carton the daughter
is watching. The actress that plays Velma in the 2002 film is the same actress
the plays Anna (the lead) which is Linda Cardellini. If you go to watch this
movie, I suggest being prepared for jump scares and just enjoying the film.

This season has gone extremely well for our Ripley
Viking girls softball team. So far we are at the West Virginia rank of 19, with
XVIII wins and VI loses. Five out of the seventeen girls on the team are
seniors, and lower class-men are anxious about their fellow teammates leaving
when they graduate.

Cassidy Young states, “ It hits me really hard when I
remember this is my last year playing softball for Ripley, and I will probably
miss it when I’m gone.”

Young has played all four years in high school,
including numerous years before.

Underclassmen express the sadness they feel about
current seniors leaving, and hesitation as of how they are going to play
without them.

“It will not be the same without the seniors playing
next year”, states Grace Walsh.

The underclass players look up highly to the seniors
when it comes to guidance,hard work,
and dedication. Current seniors are Cassidy Young, Taylor Johnson, Jahlea
Bumpus, Jaelyn Hunt, and Sarah Brannon.

Monday, April 22, 2019

“Avengers: Endgame” will be in theaters on April 26. People are excited to see “Endgame” because the end of “Avengers: Infinity War” was a cliffhanger, and everyone would like to see what is going to happen next.

At the end of “Infinity War” half of the universe turned to dust. Some characters that were assumed dead are Loki, Heimdall, Gamora, Vision, Black Panther, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange and some others. The remaining Avengers and Guardians - Thor, Black Widow, Captain America and Bruce Banner - were distraught and unsure what they could do. Based on the trailer Tony Stark, perhaps the only Avenger left in space, is able to send a message to Pepper Potts as his supply of oxygen is running low.

“Endgame” takes place five years after “Infinity War.” Our favorite Marvel characters are surprised and confused over the arrival of Captain Marvel. They must figure out how to get revenge and fight Thanos.

Fans have many theories about what could happen next. Most believe the Avengers and allies that they have left try to locate Thanos to get revenge on what he did in “Infinity War.”

Another theory that has been created by a fan is that Captain America will die in “Endgame.”

This theory could happen because Chris Evans contract is over with once it comes out. Evans will be leaving because he has shown a desire to move into directing. He is not the only one moving on. Robert Downey JR. (Iron Man) is leaving because he said he just can’t do it forever. Chris Hemsworth (Thor) is leaving because his deal ends with Marvel ends when Avengers 4 releases.

The first Avengers movie released on May 4, 2012. “Endgame” is the last in Phase 3 of the Marvel universe. Who knows what phase 4 will have in store.

Teens are always looking for something to do or something new to try. Traveling is a great experience whether it is to a different state or out of the country. You are able to experience so many different ways of life by visiting different places. Traveling can open your eyes to the world.Traveling will get you out of your comfort zone and puts life in perspective. You may discover things you’ve taken advantages of; like air conditioning, hot water, or clean water. Laws in every country. The countries I have visited had a drinking age of 18 and not many traffic laws. You will most likely come back with a new appreciation of life if you travel to other countries.Unless you want to pay for an out of country cell phone plan, which can become very expensive, you probably won’t be able to use internet based apps while outside of wifi. This did become very frustrating at times, but I quickly grew used to not having cell service all the time. I have also stayed in many hotels without air conditioning and hot water while visiting other countries in 103 degree weather. It made me realize how lucky we are to be able to use such technology.Two countries I have visited are Uganda, Africa and Belize, Central America. Both were developing countries. Belize was more developed than Uganda but had similarities and differences. I did not see very many policemen in Belize but there were a lot of members of the military walking around Uganda. I was not allowed to wear shorts or anything that showed my stomach in Uganda out of respect of their culture, although I could wear shorts and a bathing suit top walking around in Belize.You can make friends from across the globe, too. By interacting with locals, there are so many different cultures, foods, traditions, beliefs, and adventures you can experience that average tourists may not have a chance to. I have made friends in Uganda and Belize that I still talk to today. I was able to experience things most tourists would not be able to because of them. My family and I got to be the first tourists to go into a cave that was not open to the public because of a friend we made while we were visiting Belize.Whether you loved the place you traveled to or not, you will definitely have stories to tell. You will be able to tell people about what you did if it was just walking through the towns or going through tourist locations.You can experience similar environments by traveling in the United States too. You will be able to see different terrain across the states. However, it won’t be the same as visiting another country but can still be just as exciting.

Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Did somebody say tennis? Word is that some people don’t even know about the tennis team here at Ripley High. Yes, we do have a team and we have a bunch of awesome students who are a part of it. So far, they have won against Spring Valley and Parkersburg South as a team.Senior Caleb Bailey and sophomore Lauren Roush are the top seeds for the girls and the boys’ team. Each player is ranked by a system called seeding and it is to separate each player and list from the strongest to the weakest. Every match we have, the coaches will split us up with the matching seeds from the other team and we play against our own seed in order to set up our seeding chart before we play any matches. There are 18 players. They play doubles first then split up into singles and play against the same seeds from the other team. A match can take quite long depending on the number of players or number of courts and how many games they play per match. Usually, the total number of hours is about two or three hours for the whole team to finish all their games.“Each match I play is different; different player, different abilities. Since it is an independent sport, I cannot rely on my teammates to help me win a match,” said senior Caleb Bailey.“It can be mentally challenging sometimes but I have learned that I play best when I am having fun and not worrying about winning.”The team has two coaches, Melissa Scarberry and Dwayne Merritt. They both enjoy coaching the kids and encouraging them to have fun. “Hard work, patience, and dedication is key,” said Coach Scarberry.The players have played a quite few home matches with Huntington, Spring Valley, Cabell Midland, and Parkersburg so far. As well as their away matches, they have played against Parkersburg, Herbert Hoover, Spring Valley and Huntington.“I enjoy traveling to away matches because it gives us the opportunity to hang out as a team. Away matches are honestly a lot of fun,” said senior Brooke Hatcher.The tennis court at Ripley Park has been upgraded to a new blue court that has a lot more room for the team to enjoy and practice. They also use it for home matches.“My decision to play tennis was to give me something to enjoy and it’s the only sport I’ve ever played as an extracurricular activity. I also love to play with the rest of the team. I’ve played tennis for seven years now and I still love it to this day.” said freshman Annie Pierson .They will have a home match against Parkersburg South today, Tuesday, April 16th at 4:30. They also have a home match Thursday, April 18 at 4 against Ravenswood.“Caleb Bailey qualified and made it to states last year, 2018. As far as before then, I'm unsure because this is only my 2nd year coaching Ripley HS. I am hopeful that we will have some qualifiers this year. If we practice like we're in a match every day, then I have no doubt that we have the talent to get there.” said Coach Scarberry.As much as we would love for the team to go to states, we can encourage them to do their best and see how it goes from here!

Thursday, April 11, 2019

Ripley baseball team is having an average season with a record of 6 losses and 7 wins. Head coach Shane Casto has put in a lot of work this year to make the team better than ever. The leadership from the seniors on the team has really helped out.There are three seniors out of 18 players on the team this year.

Casto looks for new drills to teach the team to make them better. He also encourages the players to do better and helps raise their self-esteem.

“The coach really pays attention to our mistakes and makes us better for the games with different drills,” said junior Gavin Blankenship. Leadership just isn't from the coach. It's also from experienced players. “The seniors really help us out at practice and teach us and give us tips to improve our skills for games,” said sophomore Cameron Patterson.

The upperclassmen have really improved their skills over many years. Dane Petersen has been playing since age five, Tyler Haskins since age five and Josh Carte since age four. They share their experience to make the underclassmen better. “I use my skills to help out the underclassmen by teaching them how to do things different and so that it is easier to do,” said Carte. The seniors are getting ready to graduate and their season is coming to an end fast. “The thing I will miss the most about playing baseball at Ripley High is being around all the teammates and making memories with them,” said Carte.

Wednesday, April 10, 2019

Sorella Ristorante is offering a prom special on April 27 for prom dates and prom groups. They are offering two entrees and a choice of an appetizer or desert all for $25! Customers are able to pick between Spaghetti and Meatballs or Chicken Alfredo as an entree, plus Bella Luna Appetizer or a Cannoli Dessert.

The Bella Luna appetizers are half moon mozzarella sticks that are deep fried. Cannolis are a traditional Italian dessert. There are two per order so it is perfect for sharing.

Sorella’s is an Italian restaurant in Fairplain. They have a “...vintage industrial inspired atmosphere,” according to the Sorella’s Facebook page. The restaurant has the same owners as the Fairplain Yacht Club.

“Two of my children are Ripley High alumni and I wished they had closer options for their own prom festivities. I want to provide a unique and fun environment and experience to our Jackson County students and families,” says Cindy Vannare, owner of Sorella’s Ristorante.

Sorella’s is also providing a free photo shoot for all prom couples, groups, and friends. The photos are just Polaroid pictures, something small and memorable for a fun night.

“I wanted to eat at Sorella’s because it has a nice environment,” says junior, Brandon Tomblin.

There are no deadlines for reservations and walk-ins are welcome. Although it is recommended to call soon to reserve a table. They have plenty of space, but the first groups to come are the first to be served.

The Italian restaurant is located on 2998 Charleston Road, Ripley, WV 25271. They will be hosting the prom special from 3pm-9pm on Saturday, April 27.

The junior class is selling raffle tickets in the Viking Nook at lunch for $5. Upperclassmen can enter to win the first prize of two free prom tickets and a free dinner for two at Sorella’s or the second prize of two free prom tickets.